Angela Lansbury: Sleuthing the Lowdown on Knee Surgery
Women Suffer Broad Impact, Delay Action
In addition to being a master sleuth, Angela Lansbury has a lot to say about knee replacement surgery.
DePuy Orthopaedics is working with Lansbury to launch a national campaign educating women about knee replacement and dispelling myths about the surgery.
The campaign kicks off during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in Chicago, March 22-26.
Lansbury has delighted fans on Broadway (”Gypsy”), the silver screen (”The Manchurian Candidate”) and is perhaps best known for her role as Jessica Fletcher on “Murder, She Wrote.”
Over a 16-year period, Lansbury achieved notable success on Broadway, having won all four Tony awards for which she was nominated. In 2000, she was honored with the John F. Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement.
“A lot of women think that chronic pain is part of getting old,” said Ms. Lansbury, who could barely walk because of crippling knee injuries before undergoing knee replacement surgery in July 2005. “It doesn’t have to be. Joint replacement can extend your enjoyment of life. Now, I can move and dance again. I’m comfortable and pain-free — and looking forward to the next 20 years of my life.”
Women Suffer Broader Impact on Daily Activities
In a Harris Interactive survey of U.S. osteoarthritis sufferers aged 50 to 65, women are more likely than men to report that their daily pain is severe. Many women said their OA pain affected activities such as walking and climbing stairs a lot or all of the time, while men reported the greatest impact was on exercise and outdoor activities.
Women reported having tried more treatments than men, but were less likely to be seeing an orthopedic surgeon or discussing knee replacement with their physician.
Women Delay Taking Action
Published studies show that women are three times more likely than men to continue living with knee pain instead of having needed knee replacement surgery. Women also wait until they have significantly worse knee functioning before getting knee replacement.
This increasing disability can limit the best possible outcome from the surgery making early diagnosis and treatment a key to positive outcomes and better postoperative knee function.
It’s important for women to not delay seeing an orthopedic surgeon to make informed treatment decisions when chronic knee pain impacts their daily activities such as walking or going up or down stairs.
“DePuy’s innovations in knee replacement technology may provide options that meet the needs of today’s active patients. These advances allow women and men to resume activities that are important to them,” said John Moreland, M.D., Lansbury’s physician and an orthopedic surgeon at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif.
She continued, “If knee pain makes the functions of everyday activities like getting in and out of a car difficult or if it is waking you up at night, you should consult with an orthopedic surgeon to explore potential treatment.”
“While women have always been the caregiver, they now must take charge of their knee pain and seek treatment. There is no reason to miss out on the joy of living,” concludes Lansbury.
Knee Surgery News
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